Centacare Broken Bay

SCARF : Case Management

tool for Housing, Family &

Youth Support Services

Case Management Tasks

Intake Assessment Planning Direct Service Coordination Review Closure

Values and Principles of SCARF

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equal opportunity

ecological

child development

strengths based

Inter-agency approach

continuing process

evidence based

child centred

Assessment and action in

parallel

Using SCARF with families

Focus on the work, not the paper Remember parents almost always want good

things for their children - SCARF is a way of getting children the help they need.

Leave tools behind unless they are really needed.

Use ‘sign off’ opportunities as a reminder to make sure that work is on track

Recognise that families react to ‘paper’ in different ways - work out what they find helpful.

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Benefits of SCARF

Focuses on children’s needs Involves parents in transparent

process Key issues identified Flexible process Concrete plans Maintains continuity Interagency approach

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Additional Benefits of e-SCARFWhich we would LOVE to know first hand….e-SCARF allows the electronic completion,

filing and storage of SCARF client files.

Consolidated reports can help to: Lead to improvements in planning Assist you to evaluate program outcomes Help you to meet your reporting

requirements

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SCARF – Supporting Children and Responding to Families

SCARF was adapted from the United Kingdom (UK) Department of Health “Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families." (CIN Framework).

Centacare Broken Bay has been using SCARF for at least 4 years.

Programs

Waitara Family Support Waitara Housing Support Brookvale Family Support Brookvale Housing Support Naremburn Family Support Naremburn Youth Support

Family Support Program

Family Services staff work in partnership with families of children 0-18yrs and help them to make a change.

The focus is on early intervention and preventing family breakdown where there is a risk to children.

Youth Support Program

Youth Services staff work in partnership with our youth support workers. The services accepts young people aged 14-18 with low level behavioural difficulties.

The focus is on early intervention and preventing family breakdown where there is a risk of homelessness for the young person.

Housing Support Program

We offer short term accommodation to families

We aim to transition families into more stable, long term housing.

This is not crisis accommodation, however often the families are going through crisis when accepted into the housing programs.

SCARF Triangle

Case Study - Child S 5 yr old daughter (Domain A), loves to dress up in

grown up clothes (A: identity) and swim in designer clothes in the ocean (A: Social Presentation); father appears very controlling (A: DV); Father jumps on chairs to profess his love (A: (mental) health & disability)

Both parents appear to have a good relationship with their daughter (B: Basic Care), allowed to walk around in high heals from 2yrs old (B: Ensuring Safety)

A very financially well off family (C: Housing), father has a previous adoptive family (C: Immediate Family) both parents work sporadically (C: education employment or community resources), Family involved in Scientology in a significant way (C: social networks)

The Good, Bad and the Ugly of the triangle

The Good: Great visually for staff and families to use; Very holistic; Gives good prompts

The Bad: Inexperienced workers don’t often know what to ask in relation to the fields; Can feel cumbersome covering all topics;

The Ugly: ??

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Flowchart

The Good: Logical; Easy to follow; Age specific; action plans very accessible to families; great new assessment agreement; new referral form; Action plans have a spare page for updates, which staff love; Ensures families don't get caught in the ‘service trap’; Great for managers to review progress/lack there off; Add-its for inexperienced staff; Reviews can be used effectively.

The Bad: Add-its for experienced staff; re-training staff to use the record of contact; not great for short pieces of work.

The Ugly: Paper version can make it cumbersome to find information; lots of repetitive writing (eg DOB’s); ‘creative’ use of the closure form; ; STILL not having e-SCARF as most staff would prefer computerised version.

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Implementation of SCARF to CBB

Initial training for all families teams Review sessions for all families

teams Engaged Bronwen Elliott to facilitate

staff skill development for challenging programs or situations.

Staff needed a lot of guidance and support to change their practice as required by SCARF.

Centacare review of SCARf 2010

58 files were audited by senior management staff based on rigid criteria.

This audit highlighted that after 4 yrs, staff vary greatly in their use and knowledge of SCARF.

Highlighted that some parts could be utilised greater, e.g. referral record and action plans.

What we have learned from SCARF & audit

Great way to encourage good practice with families.

Leads to shorter intervention times. Helps workers get focused very quickly on goals

and outcomes. Managers NEED training on how to effectively

use/audit SCARF to ensure best practice. Staff from statutory child protection backgrounds

need support to adjust to not keeping case notes and doing a “snapshot assessment” as opposed to an ongoing assessment.

Value of the proposed buddying system for SCARF users

That the E-SCARF System is still being sought by staff.

Thanks for listening

Maura MageeFamily & Youth Services CoordinatorBrookvale Family Centre,02 8968 5100Maura.magee@dbb.org.au